Much of GAP's work focuses on protecting and advocating for various types of government employees across the country. Many of these types of cases may seem to overlap with other program areas, such as National Security & Human Rights, or specific GAP campaigns (FDA and USDA employees would fall under our Food Integrity Campaign). This page is dedicated to outlining GAP's work with government whistleblowers that generally fall outside of these boundaries.
GAP accepts all kinds of employees who work for, or are contractors with, the federal government. In recent years, GAP has represented clients working under such federal agencies and departments as Agriculture, CIA, Defense, Energy, EPA, FBI, Homeland Security, Justice, State, Transportation, Transportation Security Administration, and Veteran's Affairs, just to name a few.
More specifically, GAP has worked with a number of national security, intelligence, and law enforcement whistleblowers through our National Security & Human Rights program. This includes whistleblowers from various agencies, such as the National Security Agency, CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice (DOJ). In fact, GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack is herself a DOJ whistleblower.
A multitude of whistleblowers have also exposed numerous issues involving airline safety in recent years. This includes those from the TSA and FAA.
Other GAP program areas that accept government employees as clients (in addition to those listed above) include issues related to the environment (with a long history in nuclear oversight issues), public health (drug safety), and financial accountability. Again, this list is not all-inclusive. GAP accepts government employees with all types of disclosures.
District of Columbia Employees
Whistleblower protection and oversight for District of Columbia Government employees is, in many respects, markedly different than those of state governments. GAP, headquartered in Washington, DC, often assists many District employees who are eligible to avail themselves of protections that, on the whole, is quite good.
Government Employee Highlights
It has become apparent through GAP’s litigation in the District that one of the most serious perpetrators of retaliation against District government employees is the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services (“FEMS”). FEMS, specifically the DC Fire Department, has on several occasions unjustly retaliated against whistleblowers who speak out against wrongdoing. Allegations regarding FEMS adverse personnel practices come from current and former high-ranking uniformed officers, firefighters on the ground, and civilian employees. One of the most egregious forms of retaliation has come in the form of “orders” to submit to psychological evaluations in the wake of employees making lawfully protected disclosures about FEMS operations or the conduct of the agency’s uniformed management. GAP endeavors to bring awareness to this insidious practice through its representation of former employees.
State and Locality Employees
GAP also occasionally handles the disclosures of state employees. Unfortunately, the multitude and myriad of patchwork state protections do not allow for us to list our work in this area, or such protections, at this time. We hope to expand on this area of whistleblower protection in the future to provide the public with a more thorough understanding of what these important employees face.
